From Teens August 12, 2019 Issue

Lifting the burden

Emma Franklin

I don’t think I can do this any longer.

A group of classmates and I were on a canoeing trip in the Boundary Waters of Minnesota. Whenever we approached a section of water that wasn’t safe for us to canoe, we had to stop, get out, and then portage our canoes—meaning we each had to carry a 75-pound canoe upside down on our shoulders for distances of up to 2,500 feet.

This wasn’t easy, and I quickly discovered that it was painful to walk on a narrow, muddy, rocky path with a canoe balanced above my head. I was afraid that if I took a wrong step, I would fall and be crushed by the canoe.

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